Xi3 Piston available for pre-order

Xi3 Piston, the minimalist computer for video games, is now available for pre-order. It will hit the market late this year, but if you want to have a $ 100 discount, you will need to order right now.

Piston is the first device that fits in the category of "Steam box" but is not an official product made ​​with Valve. The Xi3 Company tries to offer top performance in a very small package, appealing to a unique design. The entire computer is modular, and various internal components can be changed over time to always run the latest games.

Unfortunately, the hardware offered now, at $ 999 is a bit high. Even after reducing the pre-order price at $ 899, is not really justified. But we know now that in the aluminum housing there is a 3.2 GHz AMD Trinity, a Radeon 7000 series graphics chip, a 128 GB SSD and 8 GB of DDR3 memory.

Piston Xi3 was presented live at the SXSW and so we can see the first small computer interface, which is now referred to by the nickname "console". Obviously, the operating system is Windows, which received a custom interface. Below you can find the official video presentation with a video interface.

Augmented Reality for Neurosurgeons

Presented for the first time in the middle of last year, Kinect Fusion is a software component that allows you to use the Kinect sensor to generate a full 3D environment. To take the idea of ​​3D elements in front of a regular Kinect sensor to another level, there were introduced concepts of augmentative reality (AR).

Starting from the sensor’s ability to interpret a three-dimensional environment in front of the camera, in a software application was loaded 3D model of a skull with a detailed brain. Because the virtual head had some specs that fitted a physical model out on the table, when the camera came in front of the model an association between the two models was fixed.

The whole system was demonstrated with a Kinect sensor taped to a tablet. Passing over a wide variety of an AR applications, the perfect scenario will be in an operating room. The fact that a 3D model of a head or any internal organ can be associated with a physical part of a patient means that the doctor can see in real time in 3D, what is inside the patient like peeking through a window.

Kinect Fusion, the most important part of the whole equation, will be included in the next version of Kinect for Windows SDK.

Age of Empires II HD

Many fans of strategy games are still nostalgic for the golden age of this genre, which culminated in early 2000 with Age of Empires II. While no one can stop you from installing the original game, new operating systems and low resolution elements are obstacles for players eager to experience a classic.

Microsoft saw that there was still interest in the Age of Empires series so decided to hire a team to restore Age of Empires II in HD. The game is available now for pre-order on Steam and promises to include all the original content, along all the expansion sites launched in the meantime. Price is set for 19 euros, but those who pre-order have a 10% discount.

If you are missing multiplayer games such as Age of Empires II, the game will include an online component, where you can duel with friends. If you have three other friends interested in the game, four children package costs only 57 euros. Basically with this offer you get 4 for the price of 3. Age of Empires II HD officially launches on April 9, but those who pre-order will be able to start the fun on the 5th of April.

Microsoft has second thoughts about its Office 2013 license

Many Microsoft Office users have been upset on hearing that a license of Office 2013 is tied to a single PC, it seems that's not the case.

After announcing a few weeks ago that Office 2013 licenses will not be transferable, Microsoft seems to have second thoughts. For all those who agreed to purchase a license to the new Office it seemed absurd that such licenses to be tied to a single hardware configuration. In a new post on the official Microsoft Office blog, Redmond announced their policy change. Therefore, from now on, it will be accepted to transfer the license from one PC to another when the old one failed or you simply bought a new computer.

Changes described by Microsoft will be immediately put into practice, while scripting of the licensing document will be implemented in the next update to the Office suite. To make things sound too good to be so simple, Microsoft announced some restrictions about the license moving. Further, you can’t use an Office 2013 license on two different PCs. If you plan to jump from PC to PC with the new Office suite, the company will limited you to install on another system one every 90 days. In principle there is an exception to this rule, if a PC has encountered a hardware problem you might spend some time on the phone with Microsoft customer service to prove the event.

Samsung director shatters Windows 8

Is neither the first nor the last to complain about Windows 8, Dong-Soo Jun unfortunately from Samsung is a director whose opinion counts.

Division memory chip President of Samsung, Dong-Soo Jun takes long term decisions related to power production dedicated RAM for desktops, laptops or smartphones. In an era where PCs lose more and more popularity, Dong-Soo doesn’t hesitate any second in a guilty finding.

In an interview with reporters in South Korea, Jun was very drastic in saying that PC were  not positively impacted by the release of Windows 8, because it isn’t better than the previous Windows platform Vista. "To leave no doubt in his statements, general manager of Samsung has insisted on the same line. He said that at this time we don’t see an explosion in the rate of adoption of ultra-books because of the uncompetitive Windows platform".

Because of the position they occupy, things are very simple, Dong-Soo Jon easily solved the problem caused by Microsoft. Moved his attention almost entirely from memory chips to the classic smartphones and tablets. The sad thing is, regardless of the number of complaints of Microsoft's latest operating system, the Redmond will never change direction of development of operating systems.

Windows Phone 8 can perform 3D scans

Windows Phone 8 will be able to provide access to an app designed for 3D scanning with mobile phones.

Smartphones already occupie an important place in our lives, and manufacturers of applications continue to work to ensure that things will be so in the future. It’s the same in Microsoft case, working on a series of projects that enable users to make 3D scans in the easiest way possible.

Among the solutions discussed, there is also an app for Windows Phone which turns your smartphone into a highly accessible scanning device. Basically the system works in a similar way to panoramic photos. All you have to do is to travel all around the subject while the application takes pictures from different angles. Later they are sent to Microsoft's servers where they are processed to form a complete picture from the scan.

Sent back to the phone which runs Windows Phone 8represented in 3D for which can be viewed and manipulated at will. Although at first glance seems a great discovery, such an application can be very useful especially when you want to send someone a more detailed picture of an object or a person.

Currently we do not know to what extent Microsoft will choose to integrate this feature in Windows Phone 8 or an app designed for this operating system.

Kinect will replace mouse interaction with the PC

It is rumored that the next generation Kinect sensor will be revolutionary. Till launched, Microsoft shows us some useful things for the current model.

No matter what will do or will not do the next Kinect sensor, which will come bundled with next Xbox, I am still amazed by the usefulness of current Kinect on the market.

At Microsoft TechFest, an American company event held this week in the U.S., Microsoft has introduced some features of a new version of Kinect SDK. From what it seems, Software Development Kit, which allows users to write programs for Windows Kinect will be much smarter. Among other things, it will give programmers a chance to associate relatively simple gestures. Users will be able to pinch-to-zoom remotely on an image, using both hands. Action by browsing different parts of a web page will also be easy. Overall, the entire repertoire of functions possible, either by simple hand movements or by clenching the fist. And PC games like Jetpack Joyride has been demonstrated by using the new application, and the argument was pretty convincing.

Unfortunately, I think wagging enthusiasm your hands in front of the monitor will drop as fast as wagging hands on a touchscreen monitor. As long as the activity involves extra effort from the user, which is not more efficient, I'm afraid that most PC users do not have the mood to learn a new way of interacting with the PC. I see a possible usage scenario in the case of a HTPC.